Bengal practice curtailed

Calcutta: The Bengal senior team’s practice session could be held for about an hour-and-a half on Saturday morning, as Eden Gardens was playing host to a High Court judges’ friendly match.

Bengal are preparing for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Though there appeared to be some discontent in the morning regarding the curtailed time, Bengal coach Ashok Malhotra said that there was really no issue. “We practised till about 10 am. And some players also have their league matches, so they prefer to practice at the Eden itself, even if we can’t practise for long hours... Also, we want to play on the Eden pitch,” he said.

Malhotra added that there had been problems earlier, but they were being sorted out. “We can’t make a issue out of everything,” he said.

On Thursday, only three players and the coach were present for practice. Captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary and pacer Ashok Dinda, along with Malhotra, were there.

Deep Dasgupta, the CAB chairman of selectors also said that too much was being made of the practice facilities and schedule issues. “The CAB has its commitments too. The Bengal team can very well practice at the Jadavpur University Campus ground at Salt Lake. It has proper facilities. But the players want to practice at the Eden only,” he said.

The CAB had already come under scrutiny for scheduling League matches during the days of Bengal practice which forced players to skip practice.

On Saturday, only four players did not attend practice. They were Iresh Saxena, Ashok Dinda, Vivek Singh and Amir Gani.